For years, British cookbook authors have casually referred to winter tarts, cakes, and pavlovas made with “forced rhubarb,” and I longed to try it. Nigella Lawson’s description in How To Be a Domestic Goddess — “perfect for January, when the new season’s forced rhubarb is just in” — only intensified my curiosity.
I spent several winters searching grocery stores and markets in New York City and Washington, D.C., hoping to find this elusive forced rhubarb, but usually without success. One year rhubarb finally showed up in D.C. in late April — much later than I expected. So it was a surprise when, in January, while shopping at a Whole Foods in New York, I spotted rhubarb in the produce section. Seeing those rosy stalks felt like discovering a seasonal secret.
I considered buying the entire display and carrying it back to D.C., but I resisted, thinking that a Whole Foods in Washington would surely stock it too. Back home, I checked several stores, including three Whole Foods locations, and came up empty. I resigned myself once again to a rhubarb-free winter.
A couple of weeks later, at my local Harris Teeter picking up grapefruits and kiwis for a winter tart, I found it: vibrant, fuchsia rhubarb. I snatched up a pound immediately.
My original plan was a rhubarb panna cotta tart topped with dozens of delicate rhubarb roses, imagining a clean pink canvas. In practice, the forced rhubarb stalks were very thin and the roses proved fiddly. I switched to rhubarb ribbons, which were simpler to make and resulted in a tart I loved even more than the one I had imagined.
The finished tart has a distinct but gentle rhubarb flavor. If you prefer a stronger taste or deeper pink color, increase the rhubarb in the filling. As made here, the tart is perfectly pink and not overly sweet — a lovely balance.
Rhubarb Panna Cotta Tart
The filling for this pretty pink tart is adapted from a blackberry panna cotta recipe, and the tart shell uses a sweet shortcrust pastry inspired by Soulful Baker by Julie Jones.
Ingredients
Tart Shell
- 230 g all-purpose flour
- 125 gunsalted butter, chilled and diced
- 50gpowdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2tbspwhole milk
To glaze the tart shell:
- 1 egg yolk
- a couple of dropsof boiling water
Rhubarb Panna Cotta Filling
- 2cupschopped rhubarb
- 2tspwater
- 1/3cup / 67 ggranulated sugar
- 2cupsheavy cream
- 1/2tspvanilla bean paste
- 1 3/4tsppowdered gelatin
- 3.5tbspcold water
To decorate:
- rhubarb ribbons or rhubarb roses(see notes)
Instructions
Make the tart shell:
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Place the flour and diced butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
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Add the powdered sugar and beat gently until just combined.
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Add the egg yolk and milk, increase the speed to medium-low, and mix until the dough just begins to come together.
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Gather the dough, wrap it in plastic, form a ball, and flatten into a disk about 1/2 inch thick.
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Chill the dough for at least one hour.
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Roll the chilled dough between two sheets of parchment to roughly 1/8 inch thick to avoid adding extra flour.
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Transfer the dough (parchment side up) to a 9-inch fluted tart pan, remove the top sheet, press the dough into the pan, and trim so the pastry overhangs about 1/2 inch. Reserve excess dough.
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Chill the lined tart shell for about 30 minutes.
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Preheat the oven to 400°F.
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Prick the tart bottom with a fork, line with crumpled parchment, and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or rice.
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Blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove weights and parchment, then bake another 5 minutes until the dough loses its raw look.
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Patch any cracks with reserved dough. Mix the remaining egg yolk with a few drops of boiling water and brush the inside of the shell with this glaze.
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Return the tart to the oven and bake another 15 minutes. Cool the shell on a wire rack while still on the baking sheet.
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When cool, trim the overhang with a vegetable peeler and brush out crumbs with a soft brush.
Make the panna cotta filling:
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Combine chopped rhubarb, sugar, and a couple teaspoons of water in a saucepan. Simmer over low to medium-low heat until the rhubarb breaks down. Cool 10–15 minutes.
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Add the cream and heat until just steaming (about 160–170°F). Remove from heat and steep for 30 minutes.
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Toward the end of steeping, sprinkle the powdered gelatin over the cold water in a heatproof container and let it soften.
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Reheat the rhubarb-cream mixture until just steaming and stir in the vanilla bean paste.
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Strain the hot mixture through a fine mesh sieve over the softened gelatin, pressing with a spatula to extract all the pink liquid. Whisk thoroughly to dissolve the gelatin.
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Place the tart shell on a low refrigerator shelf and carefully pour in the filling. Chill until fully set, preferably overnight or at least four hours.
Decorate the tart:
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Once the panna cotta is set, arrange rhubarb ribbons or roses on top as desired.
Recipe Notes
Instructions for making rhubarb roses and ribbons are available in many pastry resources. If your filling develops small surface bubbles, avoid incorporating too much air when combining the cream with the softened gelatin and pop stray bubbles with a toothpick after pouring into the shell.
The rhubarb flavor is present but subtle; increase the rhubarb for a stronger taste and deeper color if desired.
